David Boder:
[In English] September 8th, 1946. Bellevue under Paris, in a home for displaced children under the direction of the OPEJ, the society for the care of Jewish children. The interviewee is Nathan Schacht, a fifteen year old boy. His face is all in scars, and part of one ear is missing. He will tell us the story [of] what has happened to him.

David Boder:
Well. How many people were in your family? The father, the mother . . .

Nathan Schacht:
Two brothers and a sister.

David Boder:
Were the brothers older or younger than you?

Nathan Schacht:
One brother was older than m- . . . than I.

David Boder:
Yes.

Nathan Schacht:
The other one was younger.

David Boder:
And the sister?

Nathan Schacht:
Older.

David Boder:
And the sister was older than you.

Nathan Schacht:
Yes.

David Boder:
And where are they now?

Nathan Schacht:
What?

David Boder:
Where are your brothers and sisters?

Nathan Schacht:
I don't know.

David Boder:
You don't know where they are.

Nathan Schacht:
No.

David Boder:
Did you try to find them?

Nathan Schacht:
Yes.

David Boder:
Where?

Nathan Schacht:
I don't know. I gave it to . . .

David Boder:
You don't know where they are.

Nathan Schacht:
No.

David Boder:
Well, what happened in '41?

Nathan Schacht:
The moment the Germans came they took away the father . . .

David Boder:
Were you at home when they took your father and mother?

Nathan Schacht:
Yes. They took me, too, but I ran away from the auto. And they took them away.

David Boder:
What did you run away from?

Nathan Schacht:
From the auto.

David Boder:
From the truck.

Nathan Schacht:
Yes.

David Boder:
Yes. And the father and mother were with whom?

Nathan Schacht:
With the brothers and the sister together.

David Boder:
Yes. And you ran away.

Nathan Schacht:
Yes.

David Boder:
Why did you run away?

Nathan Schacht:
They told me to run away, so I ran away.

David Boder:
Who told you to run away?

Nathan Schacht:
The mother. She was taken away separately with the father.

David Boder:
Oh!

Nathan Schacht:
[Words not clear.]

David Boder:
Yes?

Nathan Schacht:
On another truck.

David Boder:
Yes? Nu?

Nathan Schacht:
And I remained with the brothers and sister. I told them to escape, too. They did not want to. They were afraid. So I escaped by myself.

David Boder:
Who told you to escape?

Nathan Schacht:
I escaped by myself.

David Boder:
Oh, by yourself.

Nathan Schacht:
Yes.

David Boder:
Nu, and they . . . Where did you escape from, from the truck?

Nathan Schacht:
Yes.

David Boder:
From the camion.

Nathan Schacht:
Yes.

David Boder:
All right. And where did you go?

Nathan Schacht:
So I went to a gentile. I did not have anywhere to stay there, so I went to a gentile, to work. The gentile . . .

David Boder:
Wait a moment. [Adjusting the equipment.] And so what kind of work did you do with this gentile?

Nathan Schacht:
I worked in the field. I worked everywhere, whatever he asked me to do. I worked in the forest. And then the gentile did not want to hide me. I had nothing to give him. He wanted me to give him something for hiding me.

David Boder:
Oh.

Nathan Schacht:
I had nothing. I had no papers to show whether I am a Pole or a Russian.

David Boder:
Nu?

Nathan Schacht:
He did not want to keep me, so I left. So I ran away into the forest. I went to the partisans.

David Boder:
Well, tell me, did the gentle know that you were a Jew?

Nathan Schacht:
No.

David Boder:
No?

Nathan Schacht:
He did not know. If I had told him that I am a Jew he would have handed me over to the police.

David Boder:
Yes? But you had no papers.

Nathan Schacht:
No.

David Boder:
So the gentile told you that he cannot keep you without any papers.

Nathan Schacht:
Of course.

David Boder:
Nu?

Nathan Schacht:
He told me that if I had no papers he would not keep me. I had no papers. I must leave. He did not want to keep me. He was afraid.

David Boder:
Nu?

Nathan Schacht:
Nu, so I ran away to the partisans. When I came there I did not see anybody, but one night I saw that there . . . partisans were there.

David Boder:
In the forest.

Nathan Schacht:
Yes, I saw them there. Afterwards I went there, but I did not see anyone. I walked towards the river, about two kilometers. I noticed a Russian partisan. I saw him.

David Boder:
Yes?

Nathan Schacht:
He asked me where I was going. So I said, 'I am going to earn something. I have no place to go.' He asked me who I was and what . . . He questioned me about everything.

David Boder:
Yes?

Nathan Schacht:
And then he took me to the captain.

David Boder:
Yes?

Nathan Schacht:
He introduced me. He accepted me. He gave me food, everything he gave me. I was there eighteen months.

Nathan Schacht:
But there came Jews, and they took me away. [They said,] 'Oh yes, you will go back there. Do you need more shrapnel fragments?' So I went to Poland. So I was in Poland . . . [ Here the recording greatly improves.]

David Boder:
So you went to Poland. What happened there? To which city in Poland did you go?

Nathan Schacht:
Yes, food I had, clothing. I had everything. In the summer [?] I had everything.

David Boder:
Did you wear a Cossack uniform?

Nathan Schacht:
No, I did not have it. I wore civilian [clothes].

David Boder:
Civilian.

Nathan Schacht:
Of course.

David Boder:
What kind of rifle did you have?

Nathan Schacht:
What . . . whatever I could lay my hands on I had.

David Boder:
[Chuckle.] All right, Nathan Schacht. Would you send in the girl that you said . . .

Nathan Schacht:
Yes, yes.

David Boder:
Send her in.

David Boder:
[In English] This concludes at fourteen [?] minutes [of the indicator, which does not necessarily mean duration of the interview] the report of Nathan Schacht. September 8th, 1946. In Bellevue near Paris. A home for displaced children which [who], under the direction of their teacher Lena Kuechler and a staff of about ten instructors and medical assistants, are living here in expectation of transfer to Palestine.

David Boder:
The record of Nathan [unintelligible] concludes at fourteen minutes of the spool.